Lesbian werewolves.
I seem to keep reading about lesbian werewolves. This is a good thing.
Jenny Frame's novel
Heart of the Pack is set in Wolfgang County, a small rural county in Utah, most of whose population is a pack of werewolves. The Wolfgang pack is close-knit, warm, and loving -- and rigidly structured in a hierarchy of dominant and submissive wolves. Dominants and submissives alike are equally valued within the pack -- for example, the Alpha's mate Eden, though submissive, is a respected and wise mother figure.
The story follows the werewolf Caden Wolfgang, second in command of the Wolfgang pack, and her budding romantic interest in a young human, Selena (Lena) Miller, who's taken an accounting assignment out in Wolfgang County to escape her overbearing family.
Lena is nervous and skittish and convinced no one could like her, thanks to a combination of what seems to be OCD and deeply internalized shame from her family, who endlessly harangue her about her weight. Caden is no-nonsense and strong outwardly, but troubled because her grandmother, a seer, foretold that she has no "wolf mate." Although she has a strong desire to make a den of her own, she resigns herself to loneliness.
Of course, Caden and Lena are destined for each other. Lena is put off by Caden's commanding nature, and Caden refuses to believe she could ever love a human, despite "her wolf" growing ever more insistent about wanting to be with -- and have
all the hot sex with -- this mousy little human.
But of course, they grow closer as the story unfolds. Unlike Lena's family, Caden is kind, and means her "commands" in protective ways. Lena senses this, even if she doesn't know it consciously, and finds her voice by standing up to Caden because she knows, deep down, it will be all right in the end.
Against this whole backdrop, the pack is threatened by an external enemy, the Alpha of a rival pack who is bent on stealing the Wolfgangs' wealth -- and stealing Eden away from the Wolfpack Alpha.
The story was a very fun ride. The protagonists are drawn vividly and well. Caden's loneliness in the midst of a, well,
pack of creatures whose lives center around den and family and finding one's submissive or dominant counterpart is clear and understandable. And Lena, an average human with average insecurities, is a great contrast to the well-organized and happy pack around her.
I especially liked the way the novel handled Lena's anxiety. It's clear it affects her negatively, and very intensely when helped along by her family's criticisms and mockery. But it's never presented in a way that makes Lena less likable or makes her tragic.
In fact, one of my absolute favorite things about this book was that one of her rituals when anxious -- counting the pens in her pen case several times over -- is portrayed not as some horrible, enslaving compulsion but as a soothing ritual. Caden never shames or pressures Lena over it, andone of the most touching moments for me was when an injured Lena, doped up on painkillers in the hospital, worries because she can't find the pens, and Caden rushes off to go and get them.
I felt the same way about how the story handles Lena's shame over her weight. Long before Caden is willing to entertain the idea of sex with a human, she's baffled and angry that Lena would think of herself as anything but voluptuously beautiful. I liked that a lot. I'd recommend the book to bigger people who struggle with feeling beautiful or desirable, just for that alone.
I also liked the way the werewolves were depicted as good, kind creatures with stable and loving families. I tend to like my monster stories a bit more dark than
Heart of the Pack, and I sometimes found the whole thing a little too sweet, but I also really like seeing a softer side to "monsters." Especially if it still fits with their nature. The Wolfgangs really did feel like a dog pack in many ways, loving, devoted, and tight-knit, and I found that refreshing.
That said, as I mention above, I would personally have preferred them to feel a little more like
werewolves. They talk a lot about how they're not human, but spend much of their time "shifted to skin." The story tells us "their wolf" gets more insistent when they're feeling intense emotion, and there are a few scenes where they can't control their need to shift, but I would have liked to see more of the relationship between their wolf side and their emotions. They're not monsters in the traditional sense, no, merely "a different kind of people" as Caden puts it -- but I'd still like to see their shapeshifting happen unpredictably more often, and get them into a bit more trouble.
I also would have liked a little more from the other plot. Part of this may just be that I'm a sucker for well-developed villains, but I wanted to know much more about the antagonist. She was a werewolf and Alpha of her own pack, but cruel and selfish where the Wolfgangs are loyal and tight-knit. How does a werewolf become so greedy, when werewolves' lives are so intensely focused on pack, family, and den? I found the idea fascinating, but felt I didn't see enough of it. The villain kept the plot moving, and given all the many pieces of the story, a bigger role might not have worked well. Still, I wanted a bit more from her and to see more of her pack.
All in all, I would recommend the book. The whole cast of characters is warm and good-natured, so I found the whole book soothing and reassuring. It's been gloomy and depressing around here for various reasons, and it was nice to have such a sweet book to escape to.
